The Giants will decline their $10MM club option on Aubrey Huff, tweets Andrew Baggarly of CSN Bay Area. The news isn't much of a surprise given Huff's injuries and struggles at the plate since 2010. Huff's contract contains a $2MM buyout.

Gonzalez's colleague, Chris Haft, writes that the Giants and Scutaro will "likely forge a deal" this offseason, as the 37-year-old is too valuable both on and off the field to let go.

Haft also writes that Angel Pagan is expected to receive a multi-year contract with an average annual value perhaps in the $10MM range in a thin free agent market. Sabean will need to determine if Pagan is worth that to his team.

Haft goes on to say that Jeremy Affeldt could be in line for a multi-year deal on the free agent market. That, along with the presence of Jose Mijares could mean that Affeldt will find himself wearing a new uniform come 2013.

Comments

angel pagan, luis gonzalez, ryan theriot, the list goes on of all the players the Cubs prematurely labeled “Not An Everyday Player” and let go, who were good enough to get rings with other teams. Next up: Tyler Colvin.

Theriot still is “Not An Everyday Player.” He’s a decent supporting player on a good team, at best. He was good enough to get rings with other teams because the other teams were good teams.. Its a case of “right place, right time” not a case of him riding into town and making a team a title contender or something.

Plus he’s a good influence in the clubhouse. He struggled at the beginning of the season, but got hot once he came back from injuries early on. He doesn’t get on base enough to start, but he’s a solid option off the bench and can play a decent 2nd base.

I do agree he is really valuable to the team. Both as a clubhouse cog and a valuable weapon in the bullpen He can eat up two innings if possible and his curve plus his split are just unhittable at times. I think they can get it done 2/10 or 2/11. You just know after what Detroit just saw they are salivating to get something done.

Life for a Giants fan is so good right now. They have the luxury of bringing back key members of this run such as Angel Pagan and Marco Scutaro and can afford to let other guys leave. At the end of the day, they are World Series Champions and the defending Champs until October of next year. San Francisco is a hot spot now for free agents who see the talent on that ball club. They can relax this offseason, get younger, make smart moves, and coast all off season long knowing they are the defending champs. Congratulations. Well deserved. Your team had heart when it mattered most. Between Matt Cain’s perfect game, Having Cabrera and Sandoval win the All Star game for the NL, the key trades made for Scutaro and Pence, and everything else you guys endured 2012 was definitely your season. I love the whole team aspect of your ballclub and wish other would emulate that mantra.

Everything I said I said from the heart. It is what I genuinely feel. If you do not have anything nice to say, please do not say anything at all. Giant fans, I am happy you have someone like Buster Posey who very well could be your version of Derek Jeter in time. Those types of players don’t come along very often! Enjoy this moment. Two in three years is an incredible feat all around. The energy your fans brought into AT&T all series was a sight to behold.

appreciate all of that man. I think all of us hope and dream we can start something similar to your run in the late 90’s, early 00’s. It took us practically a lifetime to get a couple of these so trying to savor every second while it lasts

Dynasty? Giants likely will not win their division next year. Pagan gone next year, Scutaro got hot at right time unlikely at his age to repeat effort. Belt and Crawford are not good offensive players. Vogelson , Baumgardner both had an erratic year and the Giants have little left in prospects after trades. New ownership in LA and SD and Pads are loaded with prospects along with Arizona and LA loaded with cash.

Hey, the Giants won, congrats, my point was they don’t have the dynamics to be a dynasty. Look at the Phillies, everyone thought they would be a dynasty and they had a much better team than the Giants. Other teams in their division are getting better.

I think the whole point of this article is that they do have the dynamics for a dynasty! Young cheap controllable hitters and great pitching! Voglesong had a stretch of seven bad starts the rest of the yar he was lights out! You clearly know nothing about this team. We habve a bunch of dead salary off the books this year in Huff and Sanchez with Zito’s contract comming off next year! Trust me they have plenty of money to spend. Especially with 3yrs of sellout crowds and two World Series wins.

And if Timmy can regain some of his form back, then our pitching should be just as good, if not better for 2013. Add into that a good bullpen with Wilson coming back, the bullpen should stay a strength. If Belt and Crawford can improve offensively (which I foresee happening), then the team should be just as strong going into 2013.

The difference though with the Phillies was that, after 2008, had no pitching depth behind Hamels, and that the stars in their lineup were either aging or injury prone. Once they acquired more pitching in 2010, their offense wasn’t as threatening as it was when they won the world series. Utley became injury prone, Rollins started to regress, Ibanez and Polanco became injury prone/was declining, and even Howard started to regress a little. With the Giants, they only have one starter over 30 (Zito, and he becomes a free agent after 2013), and they have a young offensive core in the likes of Posey, Sandoval, Crawford, and Belt (none of which are over 26). With a young and talented team controlled for a while, there is not reason to believe they won’t be competitive in the next 3-4 years.

They arent a dynasty yet, thats true. But you claim alot of speculation. Pagan can be resigned because the giants have a 130 million dollar payroll that is getting more cash from ownership and huff and others coming off the books. You say hes gone like we are the oakland A’s cause hes to expensive or something. You act like crawford is some key cog in the lineup and belt played his first full season in the big leagues. you know that right? Hes in his mid 20’s, who says he wont get better? Are you nostradamus or something?
Tommy Joseph played catcher, you watch any of our season this year? We have this guy named gerald dempsey posey. Maybe you havent heard of him. And Hector Sanchez is a capable backup. Gary Brown hasnt fizzled out, who has said that? You claim he has. sounds like wishful thinking

Ridiculous? Look at the facts. Pagan is a free agent who is likely to leave. Scutaro will be 37 next year and has never been an offensive force. Crawford hit .248 with an .304 obp and Belt hit .275 with only 7 HR’s and 56 RBI’s, a very low total for a MLB first basemen so neither one is an offensive force. Vogelsong and Bumgarner both had erratic stretches during the year. Pence will be a free agent after next year and Panda has been injury prone. They traded away their top prospects in Wheeler and Joseph and Brown has fizzled out. Other teams in their division will be stronger ongoing. These things do not a dynasty make.

What speculation? That Scutaro will be 37 next year? That Pagan may leave as a free agent this year and Pence next year? Both are distinct possibilities. Also obp, rbi and HR’s are not meaningless numbers. I’m not disparaging the Giants, they had a great year and won it all. Just way too early to say they are a dynasty especially with all their question marks ongoing.
BTW, if the Giants make the WS next year I will come on this site and apologize for they then can claim to be a dynasty.

Pagan being likely to leave this year and Pence next year is pure speculation. The Giants certainly can afford them if they want. The ridiculous part is that you cited Crawford’s OBP, but not Belt’s. You started with a point you wanted to make and cherry picked stats to make it instead of actually making an argument based on stats. Also, you can’t really cite those stats alone, you have to consider the position they play and weigh for home park. By wRC+ the Crawford/Arias SS platoon (because thats what it was and thats what it will continue to be) was just below league average offensively for a starting shortstop and well above average defensively. Brandon Belt was right at average among starting 1B offensively and well above average defensively. And all of those players are probably a year or two away from their prime years.

Great post, BLB25. Not surprised Bryce could not come up with a response to this one.
@Bryce a: So we are supposed to focus on Vogelsong’s shaky 5 start stretch, and ignore the other 5 months of the season where he lead MLB in ERA? Bumgarner also had a largely solid season. Again you are focusing on the 10% or so of the season where he struggled and using that as your predictave model rather than the vast majority of the year where he was solid. Show me one MLB player that didn’t have an erratic stretch through a 6 mo. regular season.
Also speculating that Pagan and Pence MIGHT leave does nothing to prove that the team can’t replicate or improve upon their performances at those positions….and Pence was actually pretty bad for the most part with SF, so they are much more likely to get more out of him going forward (or his replacement if you want to look at it that way), based on his career numbers.

I don’t see Susac on any top prospect list. Plus he’s in A ball, a long way off. Brown has had his prospect status downgraded and had a mediocre year in Double A as a 24 year old. Doesn’t mean he can’t develop as a mlb player. See, I’ve done my studying:) Having watched and been around baseball for 50 years and having a father who played minor league ball and scouted for 20+ years I know how rare a dynasty is. Again, if the Giants win the WS next year I will be here to apologize. Stay passionate about your team and have a goodnight.

LA may be loaded with cash, but did it do anything for them this year? Obviously this team did something right as they kicked everyones ass to do what they did. Belt and Crawford not good at offense? What baseball games did you watch?

It’s an arguable point to keep Pagan- they’d be better off moving him to LF and giving Blanco a shot to hold the place for Brown who’s doing well in the AFL and could be a mid season callup next year. Pagan’s going to want a long term deal for CFer $ – I believe – that won’t be cheap as some here have insisted under 10/yr. Pagan isn’t worth more than 3 years and he’s got to be willing to play LF.

Blanco’s D is so much superior and better suited for CF- keeping him starting throughout the PS makes me believe they will give him another shot to start next year. Similarly I don’t believe Melky will be back.

Congrats to the Giants. They are nice team, with a great manager. The postseason is a total crap shoot, and the team that wins gets the best pitching at the right time. Still I don’t think the Giants are the best team in the NL going into next year. I’d take the Nats over them in a heart beat. If the Brewers shore up their pen (don’t count them out for Affeldt either) and what their young pitching did over the last 6 weeks wasn’t a mirage, they have the best lineup (sorry Card fans) in the NL. If the Dodgers get Greinke, look out SF. Reds’ staff is right up there with SF and Wash. Should be a great 2013.

Belt is still streaky but he’s shown that he has power, plus he has good speed for his size/position and great defense. The Giants have been patient with him thus far and while that can’t go on forever, more work on his approach (and perhaps a little on his confidence) would go a long way with him. I don’t think he’s a lost cause just yet.

The thing with Belt is that in the minors and college, he was a power hitter with good gap-to-gap power. However, ever since he got promoted last year, he’s been mainly a singles hitter who can hit for power every once in a while. He has a lot of plate discipline and already plays very good defense (which you mentioned), which is very valuable for a 24 year old. Bochy has told Belt to be more aggressive at the plate, and I think once he establishes a little more power on a consistent basis, then he’ll be a very valuable part of the Giants lineup.

The Giants could get thin in the outfield and starting pitching. They have to fill 2b. That is were I would look. It is too early to give up on Belt. Bochy played Posey at 1b. Sanchez has a big upside and he has power potential.

Bottom line is, the Giants payroll for 2013 is 80+ million after Huff, Rowand and Sanchez’ contracts are up, giving them 50 million to play with at their current payroll of $130. Add that to the fact that their payroll will most likely increase to $150 after their championship run (basing it off of their 2010-2011 increase of $20 mil), I don’t see a problem with them signing Pagan, Scutaro and offering an extension to Posey.

Right 80+ in commitments but that doesn’t include arbitration- the 3 players coming off are only about 30 (add Melky and it’s about 35). Pence is projected to get 13+ which means Scoot and Posey will put them back close to what it was this year. So the money they have left over to sign an LF/CFer is getting thin to stay where they were. Agreed they should be able to sign Pagan- my preference over Victorino who’s older and definitely trending down in the numbers where Pagan looks to be more consistent for a few more years.

I do believe it will come down to whether Pagan’s willing to move to LF for Brown, though Brown is playing some LF in the AFL, he’s showing to be an excellent defensive CFer. There’s also the possibility they let Pagan go or sign and trade him for a more powerful RH bat to play LF since they have Blanco under control.

I would love to see the flying hawaiian play leftfield for the Giants. With his base stealing ability and his excellent range in the outfield, Victorino would be a good addition for 2013. He also has excellent average against the dodgers.

Do the Yankees win the World Series in 2009 without implicated steroid user A-Rod. Or the Red Sox in ’07 with David Ortiz? Or the Red Sox with Ortiz and Manny in ’04? Or the Marlins in ’03 with Pudge. Or the Angels in ’02 with Glaus and Schoeneweis? Or the Diamondbacks in ’01 with Matt Williams?

That’s just talking World Series winners and we haven’t even broken into the 90’s yet. But if you want to talk Division winners we can do that, too.

Ill give Sabean credit where credit’s due, he’s won two world series off the strength of a home-grown ballclub, but to pretend he’s good at building offenses is preposterous, the 2011 giants were dismal offensively and the 2012 giants were pretty much average offensively and got hot at the right time Pitching won San Fran both championships.

Yeah, adding that Buster Posey guy back into the LU doesn’t do much… he only propelled them to 2 championships in his first 2 healthy seasons. Beltran was quoted during the LCS saying he knew they could’ve made the playoffs with Posey last year and who’s to say with those 2 they didn’t win it all since Lincecum was Lincecum and they had Vogey? Pitching and D wins championships period.